Chapter 231: The Search

High above, the biting astral winds were kept at bay by invisible shields.

Jie Ming and David, transformed into fleeting streaks of light, sped toward the next marked area suspected of the target’s activity.

During their high-speed flight, David’s eyes were closed beneath his visor, his surging mental energy probing the fragmented soul trapped within the severed head with the precision of a fine needle.

Moments later, he opened his eyes, his voice muffled through his armor. “Analysis complete.”

“This guy was just unlucky,” David concluded. “He’s not some subordinate of the target. He encountered the rogue wizard not long ago and was forcibly infected by an unknown power, turning him into

that

monstrosity.”

The soul fragments held only memories warped by endless hunger and pain, along with primal fear of the figure who transformed him.

At the same time, Jie Ming completed his own analysis.

Using

Analysis Technique

,

Alchemy Technique

, and the

All-Purpose Eye

, he dissected the twisted flesh in exhaustive detail.

Before him, a holographic display from his terminal projected a microscopic structural map of the “wizard’s” bodily sample.

“I have results too,” Jie Ming said, his voice calm and steady. “The ‘negative energy’ this guy used is essentially a perverse transformation of life force. His grotesque, half-human appearance is due to prolonged exposure and erosion by this energy.”

Pointing to a decaying energy chain on the display, he continued, “Based on the model, his body constantly consumes its own life force in its normal state, explaining his withered appearance. He likely needs to continuously absorb others’ life force to barely sustain himself.”

Jie Ming’s tone shifted, highlighting a critical, eerie anomaly.

“However,” he said, pointing to a shocking dataset on the screen, “when that ‘wizard’ was ‘casting,’ he wasted most of the life force he plundered—or rather, the vast majority dissipated during conversion. Only a minuscule fraction was successfully transformed.”

“Otherwise, based on the total energy traces left on him, he must have absorbed the life force of at least a hundred ordinary people. With that much energy, even with low conversion efficiency, his black fireball shouldn’t have been

that

weak.”

After sharing this, Jie Ming fell into brief thought.

His mind, operating at a speed thousands of times beyond a mortal’s, rapidly sifted through his knowledge of energy systems.

Moments later, he shook his head, stating firmly, “I’m certain there’s no such energy usage in Noren Workshop’s mainstream systems.”

A trace of disdain curled his lips. “This energy manipulation is… absurdly inefficient. Laughably so. Anyone using it in combat would be a joke.”

He glanced at the silent David.

David understood immediately.

His brows, hidden beneath his heavy armor, furrowed. After a moment’s thought, he shook his head, speaking with certainty.

“I can also confirm,” he said, “the old supernatural systems of the Elosia plane had nothing like this either.”

“They had similar ‘necromantic’ powers tied to life and death, but their energy essence is entirely different.”

With their information exchanged, they locked eyes, a spark of intrigue passing between them.

The target displayed a power foreign to both Noren Workshop and Elosia’s original systems, with a specialized enhancement for life absorption…

This was no longer a simple hunt for a rogue.

“If our deductions are correct…” Jie Ming suggested, “we should request additional support from the academy.”

“Agreed. We’ll need to expand the search range.”

Without further words, they silently accelerated, speeding toward the next marked city.

Silence stretched between them, but Jie Ming’s thoughts grew restless.

He couldn’t help recalling the scene in that city.

The boy, Chuck,

brimming with dreams and awe

for “wizards,” and the other children who dismissed them as bedtime stories.

Clearly, neither Noren Academy nor the local wizard rulers had deliberately glorified or concealed their existence.

Yet, in just over a century, the transformed descendants of Elosia’s survivors had nearly forgotten the brutal truth of wizards.

The history of blood and fire had faded into vague, distant legends.

Jie Ming recalled his arrival in this world.

Back then, he too believed no supernatural forces existed.

Now, he realized the lord ruling that region hadn’t actively hidden the existence of “wizards.”

Faint traces of “mysterious guardians” lingered in the territory’s legends.

But for a second-rank wizard with a near-eternal lifespan, what were centuries to a mortal? Nothing.

Perhaps the lord had merely delved into an intriguing research project or joined a prolonged planar war.

While absent for these “routine” activities, the mortals in his domain, with their fleeting decades-long lives, gradually forgot their mysterious, powerful lord and the reality of supernatural forces.

Memories fade. Awe dilutes with time.

In the end, truth becomes legend.

Is this… the unbridgeable gap in perspective between higher and lower beings?

Jie Ming mused.

He suddenly understood Mentor Clark’s words on a deeper level.

Perhaps the “maturity” Clark spoke of wasn’t just emotional detachment or rationality.

It was about fully adopting the perspective of a true higher being—a mature wizard.

No longer measuring gain and loss by mortal time.

No longer bound by mortal emotional ties.

Acknowledging and accepting the unbridgeable chasm between oneself and ephemeral creatures.

When he could think and plan in terms of

centuries

or

millennia

, the deaths of Amy and Victor would become, in his long life, like a mortal recalling a childhood pet’s passing—tinged with faint, wistful regret.

Only then would he be a truly “mature” wizard.

At this thought, a complex emotion surged in Jie Ming’s heart.

He knew his path was still long.

And “maturity” was merely the first price to pay on this harsh journey.

…

…

Two years later.

The sky was clear, sea breezes carrying a salty tang.

At a coastal temporary outpost, Jie Ming and David had just exchanged the latest intelligence with another supporting wizard team.

“The target’s last suspicious energy fluctuation was in the ‘Storm’ sea region. Thanks for your efforts,” said the other team’s captain, a second-rank wizard wreathed in lightning, with solemn gratitude.

“Duty calls,” David’s muffled voice replied.

Jie Ming merely nodded calmly in greeting.

Without further words, they transformed into streaks of dark light, speeding toward the turbulent ocean.

Two years ago, after tracking the first pseudo-wizard, they immediately reported their findings to the academy.

Noren Academy took it seriously, dispatching numerous professional investigators and mobilizing wizard lords across Elosia to conduct carpet searches of their domains.

Yet, despite such overwhelming forces, they couldn’t catch the true rogue wizard’s tail.

Each sweep only netted one or two infected “pseudo-wizards,” like the one before.

Over time, as the plane’s detection network improved, the rogue wizard’s operational space shrank.

Like a cunning fox, their room to maneuver dwindled.

It seemed the wizards’ luck was just shy of success.

But Jie Ming and David had anticipated this.

Two years ago, after analyzing the first pseudo-wizard’s energy sample, they realized these infected beings served as mobile “base stations,” tools for the hidden rogue wizard to harvest life force.